Pulp Fiction, 1938 · page 14 of 64
10 Story Book, August 1938 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Content Description This page is text-only prose — specifically, a glossary or reference guide titled "Intriguing Stories, Spiced with Pretty Girls!" It appears on page 12 of the publication. The page contains definitions of slang and jargon terms used in pulp fiction, particularly in crime and news stories. Terms defined include "slay," "racket," "crisp ten-dollar bill," "multimillionaire," "attractive girl," "prominent," and many others related to criminal activity, social status, and dramatic incident reporting. The definitions are written in a tongue-in-cheek style, explaining how these terms function within pulp narrative conventions. A note at the bottom indicates the glossary continues on page 35.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
=~ o 12 INTRIGUING STORIES, SPICED WITH PRETTY GIRLS! SLAY—Synonymous with “murdered” —abbreviated form for headlines. RACKET—According to the police, any type of business in which they do not re- ceive a cut-in. CRISP TEN-DOLLAR BEL.” fer dollars. RUBBED OUT—Variation of the ab- solute verb “murdered.” MULTIMILLIONAIRE—Person pos- sessed of property worth fifty thousand dollars or over, or a relative of a person listed in the Social Register. Before the World War, “millionaire” was used in the same sense. ATTRACTIVE GIRL—Any unmarried human female less than thirty-five years of age who gets into the news. PROMINENT — Descriptive adjective applied to plumbers, chiropractors, and sit- down strike leaders. SOCIETY DEBUTANTE — Synonym- ous with “attractive girl’’—see above. PROMINENT CLUBMAN Any male wearing a boiled shirt, arrested for any offense above a misdemeanor. SOCIETY MATRON—Any married woman, from a bartender’s wife up through the social grade who happens to. Set sele print. COLLEGE GIRL—Any woman who has ever been to school. WELL-DRESSED — Phrase always applied to a woman who, when arrested, is comparatively clean. Must be used in connection with “prominent clubman,” a. HETR—Child three hundred dollars coming to him from a life insur- ance policy. GLOBE TROTTER—Any person who has been to Atlantic City, New Jersey, Keokuk, Iowa, or Palm Beach, Floria. PROMINENT CLUBMAN — Any bachelor leasing apartments at twenty- five dollars a month and upward. Also members of “political” clubs who happen having to be arrested while wearing a dinner jacket. NOE EXPECTED TO RECOVER— Phrase apphed to the condition of all persons injured in the course of a news story. HURLED — Motion of passengers, cars and cabs at the tinve of the accident. FAINT—Course taken by all women within six blocks of the accident. PLUCKY WOMAN — Any woman who did not scream. WILD PANIC—Inevitable the accident. SCREAM—See “faint’—above. DASH—Gait of the crowd at the time OF tne accident. “Run” is not good usage. PATALLY INJURED —See “not ex- pected to recover,” above. COZY—Adjective always applied to the home to which the remains are taken. HEROINE — Principal famale char- acter in any burglary story. Otherwise synonomous with “plucky woman,” q. v. ZL YsE WO CALIBER, PRARL. HANDLED — Phrase which must al- ways be attached to the noun “revolver” result of “Rush” is synonmous. unless otherwise ordered. RING OUT—What shots always do. GEMS — Personal ornaments worth more than one dollar and seventy-five SenEzs: BOUDOTIR—Any bedroom the rent of which is more than two dollars a week. HAV OC—A good word to use almost any where. HURTLE—Verb used of motion of any falling object, especially a brick or a suicide. ALLEGED—Must be used frequently by rewrite men when in doubt, or, when twisting up the facts of a story to avoid a libel suit. FASHIONABLE APARTMENT (Continued to page 35) oO Comicboolkkxs 3